Heading Home
by karly05
Summary: Ferb drives back to Danville at the end of the "Warming Up"/"Cooling Down" day.  Short and sweet, and an attempt to rework a couple of bits from WU into something with a milder rating.  Even if you've read the others, please read this, too.


**A/N – I'm doing something a bit unusual here – a new story that incorporates some old material. I knew when I posted "Warming Up" that the T rating and subject matter would discourage some readers, but there are some portions of it that I didn't want to be overlooked because of the more mature context. I went back and forth a lot over how to do this – or whether to do it at all. Thanks to RosyInkLiv54 for convincing me to give this a shot.**

**I dealt with the details of Johnny and the Velocimangler in "Sayonara Johnny," and the parental reactions to the F/V romance in "Starting Out." The main bits of business repeated here are Vanessa's "why I love you" speech, and the fact that she and Ferb are each other's "one and only." **

**Ferb is driving home at the end of the day on which "Warming Up" and "Cooling Down" take place. Even if you've read one or both of those stories, I hope you'll stay around for this one, too. It's not too long, although the fluffy sweetness may make you want to brush your teeth afterward. Dan and Swampy own the characters. I'm not sure who owns the song, except I know it's not me.**

Heading Home

The vintage '50s coupe with the purple and cream paint job cruised down the highway that led south from Ackerton to Danville, its green-haired driver drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm of the music playing on the radio. The winter evening was crisp; the sun had set some time ago, and the stars were out in force. The road was clear and dry, but snow still blanketed the unpaved ground on either side. Ferb Fletcher was halfway home and, ninety minutes after pulling away from the charming little bungalow in Ackerton, he had yet to stop smiling. And why should he? He had just spent a magnificent afternoon with the girl of his dreams, the darling of his heart, his dearest friend and sweetest love, Vanessa Doofenshmirtz.

Out of all the delights of the day, the most unexpected was also one of the simplest. Vanessa had made him a sandwich. And not just any sandwich. Shaved roast beef, with sharp white cheddar and his favorite English mustard on a crusty sourdough bread. The fact that she even had the mustard in her possession was a testament to her love for him, since he knew she didn't care for it, herself. What a perfectly lovely conclusion to the day, thought Ferb; sitting opposite Vanessa at her tiny kitchen table, enjoying his sandwich while she devoured a bowl of mocha fudge swirl ice cream. When he finally, reluctantly dragged himself out to the car, she walked out with him and leaned her head in the window to claim one last kiss before he drove off.

Ferb had the car radio on one of those 'golden oldies' stations, and as he heard the opening bars of a familiar song, he reached to turn it up.

_Imagine me and you – I do  
><em>_I think about you day and night – it's only right  
><em>_To think about the girl you love, and hold her tight  
><em>_So happy together…_

The words fit his mood perfectly as he reflected on what Vanessa had told him earlier. He had loved her for years before he had any hope of her returning his affections, but she had surprised him today – and surprised herself a bit, too, he suspected – when she had confessed:

"Ferb… I think… I've been in love with you almost as long as you've been in love with me. Oh, not _that_ way," she had said, hastily. "You were just a kid back then. But, there was always something about you… You were smarter and more mature at ten than a lot of adults I know, and you were always so…" she had fished for a word and come up with, "_courtly_. I've always known I could trust you. You made me want to open up to you, when I didn't want to open up to anyone. You are the most remarkable person I have ever known, and I have never been happier than when I'm with you. That is why I love you, Ferb Fletcher." With these words, she had softly kissed the corner of his mouth, then added, with a teasing smile: "That – and I have always been a pushover for your accent."

Ferb chuckled again at this, just as he had when she'd said it. It often embarrassed him when people made a fuss over his accent, but he was delighted to know that Vanessa found it so charming. She was his one and only love, and now he knew that he was her one and only, as well, and life could not have been more wonderful.

_Me and you, and you and me  
><em>_No matter how they toss the dice, it had to be  
><em>_The only one for me is you, and you for me  
><em>_So happy together…_

There was no resisting the infectious tune, and now Ferb did something he seldom did – he sang. Not lip-synching to some more polished voice while hiding behind a microphone, but gleefully warbling along with the radio, in his own, imperfect, but heart-felt way:

_I can't see me lovin' nobody but you for all my life  
><em>_When you're with me, baby, the skies will be blue for all my life…_

THE END


End file.
